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Ten matchups to watch in Sunday's Patriots-Titans game

Here are 10 matchups we’ll be watching on Sunday when the Patriots meet the Titans:

Linebacker Brandon Spikes vs. running back Chris Johnson: The linebacker is one of New England’s best run defenders, and will have his hands full as part of a run defense that will be geared toward trying to slow down Johnson. (By his own admission, Johnson had an off year in 2011, but still somehow managed to rush for 1,047 yards.) Johnson’s ability to move the chains makes it absolutely paramount that the Patriots get control of the game early, which will happen by slowing down Johnson. If the Titans gain a first-half edge, they’ll continue to pound the ball and try and kill the clock with the running back Jerod Mayo called “super fast.” (When asked how he plans on containing the Patriots, Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray responded with a smile. “Give the ball 50 times to Chris Johnson.”) If New England can dictate the tempo and gain a double-digit lead in the second, the Titans will be forced to get away from the run and throw the ball to try and get back into the game.

The Patriots kick return unit against the Titans’ kick coverage unit: After an offseason where they did everything short of holding open auditions for the job, it still remains a question mark as to who will be returning kicks for New England in Sunday’s season opener. At this point, the best guess would be some sort of combination of the following: Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington, Stevan Ridley, Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman or Danny Woodhead. (Edelman and Woodhead have the most experience, and handled the duties last season -- in 2011, Woodhead averaged 21.9 yards on 20 returns; Edelman had 12 returns for a 23.7-yard average.) Whoever ends up doing most of the work in 2012 has to improve on last year’s numbers, when the team ranked 29th in the NFL in yards per kickoff return, at 21.4. However, it’ll be a real challenge for New England in the opener, as the Titans were one of the best kick coverage teams in the league in 2011, limiting opponents to a 22.7 yards per return average (eighth-best in the NFL) and 680 return yards (sixth-best) while not allowing a single return for a touchdown.

Left tackle Nate Solder against defensive end Kamerion Wimbley: One of the most important matchups for the Patriots. Coming off a preseason where the offensive line struggled, Solder -- in his first start as the full-time left tackle -- will go against one of the league’s better pass rushers in Wimbley. Solder will get some assistance, as things have started to stabilize on the left side with the return of left guard Logan Mankins. (Also, expect the Patriots to utilize one of their tight ends on the left side to give Solder some help.) Expect New England to use some tricks to try and neutralize Wimbley and the rest of the Tennessee pass rush, including no huddle, but the bottom line is that if Solder can consistently win his one-on-one battles against Wimbley, it will give quarterback Tom Brady enough time to operate.

Quarterback Tom Brady vs. linebacker Colin McCarthy: The young middle linebacker has shown a nose for the ball -- he picked off three passes in the preseason -- and has been a consistent and steady presence for the Tennessee defense since his arrival before the start of last season. If Brady can bait him into making some bad decisions, it should free things up over the middle for the New England offense.

The uptempo approach of the Patriots’ offense against a young Tennessee defense: In the 2011 preseason, the Patriots didn’t use any no huddle, and ended up running it almost 25 percent of the time over the course of the regular season. (In fact, it was the defining characteristic of the 2011 New England offense, and one of the reasons the Patriots’ offense was so successful.) The Patriots offense didn’t run a lick of no huddle in the 2012 preseason, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it try and pull the same trick we saw in the 2011 season opener, a game where New England went no huddle 27 of their 71 plays from scrimmage against the Dolphins. The Titans are anticipating some no huddle, and Tennessee defensive line coach Tracy Rocker told NFL.com that they aren’t expecting to do much substituting in hopes of trying to keep up with New England.

Defensive ends Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones vs. quarterback Jake Locker: There’s precious little NFL film on Locker, but what there is shows that he has an ability to make plays while on the run. When it comes to containing Locker, it will be paramount for the two New England defensive ends to keep him in the pocket and not allow him to bounce outside. (Look for Jones and Ninkovich to line up a little wider than usual in an attempt to keep him contained.) While it’s not exactly like trying to slow down Tim Tebow, like stopping Tebow, one of the keys for Ninkovich and Jones will be to stay disciplined and not over-run the play. Flush him back to the middle.

Wide receiver Brandon Lloyd vs. cornerback Jason McCourty: One of the premiere matchups of the week. While McCourty won’t be alone on an island against Lloyd, they should be matched up in single coverage more often than not. Lloyd was the best free-agent acquisition of the offseason for New England, picked up in hopes of serving as the perimeter deep threat the Patriots’ passing game has been missing the last few seasons. If he is able to take McCourty and another defensive back with him down the field, it should open things up underneath for fellow pass catchers like Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker.

Safety Patrick Chung vs. tight end Jared Cook: Cook isn’t mentioned in the Graham/Gronkowski/Gresham universe of young tight ends, but Bill Belichick thinks he belongs there. Asked this week why Cook isn’t mentioned in the same category with some of the others at the position, Belichick responded, “Not mentioned by who?” And when the questioned followed that up with more on Cook, Belichick unleashed his inner Steve Austin, saying, “Hell yeah. This guy’s good.” According to reports out of Tennessee, the speedy Cook -- who had 21 catches for 335 yards over his last three games in 2011 -- was frequently split wide over the course of the preseason, which would mean it would more likely for a defensive back like Chung to work against Cook when the Patriots are in man coverage. (Expect Chung to get help from linebackers like Dont’a Hightower and Jerod Mayo as well.)

Tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski against the Titans’ pass defense: Youfigure that the Titans will go with either five or six defensive backs most of the time (Belichick estimated that the Patriots saw base defenses less than 50 percent of the time last year) in an attempt to try and slow down the New England passing game. Look for Tennessee to try and flood the field with defensive backs in an attempt to try and clog up the passing lanes for Brady and the Patriots. Stopping Hernandez and Gronkowski will fall to the Tennessee safeties, particularly Michael Griffin. One course of action on Gronkowski in particular might be to utilize the same defensive decision that the Raiders made last year. Oakland used Tyvon Branch in aggressive man coverage on Gronkowski, and the 6-foot, 205-pound safety was able to slow him down, holding him to one catch for 15 yards. The Titans could try the same thing with Griffin, another aggressive safety with good coverage skills who has the same body type (he’s 6-foot, 203) and skill set. (For more on how Branch handled Gronkowski, check out this Pro Football Focus story.)

Wide receiver Wes Welker vs. cornerback Alterraun Verner: Verner played in the slot as a rookie in 2010, and with the departure of Cortland Finnegan, figures to be there again when the Patriots and Titans meet on Sunday. He’ll spend the bulk of his time matched up against Welker. Our friends at Pro Football Focus indicate that while Verner was subpar when it came to coverage in the slot, he did a very good job when it came to limiting yards after catch -- an important trait when it comes to defending Welker, who is annually one of the league leaders in YAC.

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